Federico Galvani teaches motion design at the University IUAV of Venice and he is a founder of the multidisciplinary laboratory “Happycentro” where he works on art direction, graphic design, visual identity, illustration, modeling in clay and paper, printing, and directed animation. This studio works for famous brands or small startup and uses several methods of communication: Stop Motion Animation, TV / web commercials, Packaging, Visual Art, Typography, Graphic Design and Music Videos.

The main technique that reflects the style and the way of working of “Happycentro” is the stop motion because it is the synthesis of what we have always done, build objects, puppets and backdrops of various materials, combining illustration and graphic design and set up the set and lights for the photo shoots.

Prof. Galvani, what is the origin of the name “Happycentro”? Has it a special meaning for you?

It is an invented word, this is an assonance with Epicentre. The idea is that we want to have fun designing, we want that the fun is the epicenter of our creativity.

How did “Happycentro”? Have you noticed in the air the need for a place where different personalities could join their ability to cooperate together?

It born at school.

Me, Garonzi and Giuliano, who now lives and works in Sweden, we were classmates. The first projects and the name born there.

It was 1997, already in the 98 it has become more serious, then was formed a company in 2002 after a period spent doing freelance.

Since then the study has changed often, and as organic as the basis … always on the move, while remaining within a few kilometers, then loyal to the urban dimension of our city, Verona.

Everyone manages its own field or they influence each other?

Each of us has specialties but always everyone gives his contribution to the projects. Someone suggested the idea of ​​”pollination” instead of “contamination”. In fact a more positive outlook.

The type of studies that you have done is critical, or is the experience that led to better your skills, or the union of the two?

The kind of study, as well as all other experiences, both work and life, together contribute to the training of the individual and of the designer. We are an expression of our previous experience, we have also designed a work of several years ago, that was our first published internationally. You see it here:

As for the practical work, some experience can make up for many technical deficiencies and / or training. We often say that what you do when you study, you learn how to learn, because the formula is more useful to be spent later. Some of us are not doing exactly what they studied but perhaps having learned a method, they have then been able to spend in totally new directions.

As you might define your style? They are producers of animations which take inspiration?

Everything inspires us, not only what is strictly close to our world, indeed. There is more inspiring than a pattern Burda, an old vinyl record, a few pages of a worn-volume encyclopedia that a self field.

About the style, if you mean the output, that is the aesthetics of our design, perhaps say no. In the sense that it is not something exactly defined. It is changing. In fact it is the project that seeks an interpretation and according to this logic, each project would take its logic. Then we do not like to do something twice, in the same way. There is definitely a constant, and if it must be, so this somehow defines a style; It is in the approach to the problem of communication and actions, the method used to find design solutions.

What are your rate of work?

We work hard because we are and we want to stay a small group. Well said! “Bottega”. I love this definition; that you can read on Wikipedia seems perfect for us, especially now that we have moved in a former grocery shop (“Bottega” is a small shop, usually facing the public street and consists of an environment to the sale and an adjacent workshop where we work the goods.).

We are a little artisan “bottega”, I would say this defines us in an appropriate way.

Your work space can be likened to a space of cooworking?

No. We come from a reality of this type but practiced about 15 years ago, when I still had not taken all this mythology.

It worked though, a lot of beautiful collaborations were born that are still part of our daily lives. In this sense there was a bit of a pioneering attitude. Even then, as now, moreover, the result of necessity, rather than a desire to innovate at all costs.

Which is the project that best represents you? Why?

In some ways, at least for me personally, the one mentioned earlier, is particularly significant. It was just a n o- commercial project, which spoke of something intimate even, of their personal experiences (as we said before) that was the first major opportunity for international exposure. From that research came, a bit of time later, the first international project on commission.

Then each project, for one reason or another, says a lot about us. To name a few: Swatch for as manic work of preproduction, animation and sound design product, the origami to LouisVuitton, because we had never put so many ennobling of a single piece of paper, Fendi – Hands Make Beauty storytelling, because It is our first foray into video in high fashion.

Which was the client who has imposed no limits? For you, is helpful to have the design limits or prefer to be free to design?

It is free, perhaps the artist who, more than once, but conceptually, even today, can create without being accountable to the client …

We do a different job, we are designers. Bruno Munari wrote “the designer tries to create the object with the same ease with which things in nature are made […] tries to be objective, helps the object to be formed by their own means.”

We try to do this and to do that it seems essential to take into account the existing structures, as is done or should be done in architecture.

Limits are not obstacles but theyare support points for a good solid design.

Which tools did you use to make the video “Flik Flak 2014 Winter Tales”? Was it complex to create a virtual model of your “puppet”?

The 3D design is necessary to study the focal shooting and to properly size all the elements of the scene. Once we obtained all the information we switched to laser cutting. All objects are made of wood of 3 mm thick.

Which technique do you prefer for creating these puppets?

These models are not so complex, we imagined that their movements should be minimal, almost gear clock. We choose how to animate it according to the script, the scene and the material with which is made the object of the scene.

In the “Flik Flak 2014 Winter Tales” backstage video we noticed that for object was made a three-dimensional modeling , followed by laser cutting. Was it simple create them?

Laser cutting is very precise and reproduces well the design provided. It is this which must be accurate but in this case was not complex; although we got the three-dimensional objects, originally they were designed as two-dimensional. Nothing too different from the vector drawing.

What about the light? For example, in the video “Flik Flak 2014 Winter tales”, in the 0:25 second there is a reflection on the glass of both clocks. How did you got this reflection without affecting the settings of light in the scene background? In addition, between 00:38 and 00:39 second there is a sudden change of shot that shoot both clocks and the background. How was it possible to obtain this movement?

Although we are not wizards of post production and indeed, we like to use it as little as possible, even if it means sometimes deliberately show any tricks (wireless, media, etc.), in some cases we use computer graphics to add those details that would be too complex or expensive to obtain.

Therefore. If we always refer to the project Flik Flak, we did not use this technique. It’s all made in live action. The puppets have been designed with small levers that allowed us to animate them in the live scene. In some cases it was necessary to work in post production to remove the tricks.

The stop motion is a technique that we use often though. There is more natural because we say is the synthesis of what we do: building puppets, objects and backgrounds made of various materials, combining illustration and graphic design; stage set and lighting; photograph … and put it all on a timeline by adding the MUSIC and the sound design, which is another of our passions.

Among the works on the website of Happycentro we noticed the video “Vita Nova – Domo sapiens”. We suppose that for the making of this work, it has been taken more than a day, and we wondered, in fact, how to get a stop motion of high quality it is necessary to always have the same settings for the framing and lighting, as you They managed to maintain this condition during the duration of the shoot?

I do not remember exactly but I think the filming, then only the animation in photographic studio, lasted about 3 or 4 days, not more. It was all well-designed and calculated before.

For the technical question.

These productions are made by mounting the machine on a solid stand, in our case one pole stand.

Once you have placed the machine you do not need to touch it anymore. Shooting in remote, interfacing the machine with a computer and shoot from there, to avoid altering in the position of the camera. Even the focus and everything else you can manage it remotely.

For the lights the same. It works with continuous lights, not using the flash, designed for this use are therefore very stable. Then a flicker of light, there is always a bit but that is sometimes a mechanical limit of the objectives. This is the reason why it is important to work with a quality lens.

You spoke often about the sound and we wondered in which way you can obtain it. We recently studied as in the field of cinema and television takes place (for example the simulation of the head split in Gomorrah using a watermelon, or using online bookstores). How do you manage the sound?

Yes what you have described is a method.

We call it “Foley” this practice allows recording sounds designed ad hoc. If you take a look on Vimeo the clip for Bormioli, there has been used this technique.

In general , since each project is the result of a team effort, we are very keen to publish all claims.

On the website, on Behance and Vimeo, you can see the credits for the project Santoni , Swatch, Bormioli fact, Fendi, etc.

For projects of a certain complexity, and with the right budget, always we involve other artisans … of sound in this case. To record sounds or to write the scores.

Alternatively, there are always a lot of online library, where you can find pretty much everything.

It depends in fact. La Vita Nova for example, all the sound design was produced by me, by recording the sounds of Lego bricks and then mounting them on the pictures.

Normally I use, a little ‘improperly, Ableton Live. It serves mainly to make another but is fine for these things.

In your projects, how do you choose the colors and how they related? Do you use a storyboard? Where do you take the inspiration to design and implement your video?

I spoke before about method, process which definitely includes the storyboard but before the script, then the animatic and everything else.

Nothing happens casually, unless of course the creative flashes in the second half but they are always very controlled.

What would you like to design that you have not done? Is there a project you would like to start or a collaboration with others studios?

Well, I like we music, we’ve done some interesting things but we would like to do it more often.

We are interested for several reasons even in architecture, is fascinating the idea of ​​being able to mix disciplines and expand the fields of design in space.

In your work there are various international clients. What differences have you noticed between the Italian market than foreign? In this way, does your working method changes depending on the customer?

The method never changes, we try to respect it as much as possible and we fight to do it. When they call us from abroad we find someone who has more familiarity in managing things at a distance and practice with international collaborations precisely. This sometimes makes it all a bit more smoothly, meaning that if they call you from a distance, it means that they want you.

Whatever happens, are always people to make a difference, unfortunately in some cases, and fortunately in many others.

So whether it’s a big company or a start-up, the dynamics may be the same or even unexpectedly differing from expectations.